Greece to evacuate Libya embassy, foreign nationals

Athens - Greece is sending a frigate and two other vessels to Libya to evacuate workers at its embassy in Tripoli as well as a few hundred Chinese and European nationals, government officials said on Thursday.

The Greek frigate Salamis, which can carry up to 100 evacuees, is expected to arrive in Libya on Thursday evening, a defence ministry official said. A second naval vessel, Prometheus, and a passenger ferry are expected to help evacuate workers from countries including Britain and Cyprus, officials said.

The past two weeks of fighting between rival militias in Libya have been the worst since the civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, prompting Western governments to follow the US and the UN in pulling their diplomats out of the North African country.

France closed its embassy on Wednesday and evacuated 30 French nationals from Tripoli, a few days after the US embassy evacuated its staff across the Tunisian border under heavy military escort.